October 1, 2012

IBM

The new IBM Canada Leadership Data Centre in Barrie, Ont. is the first such facility in North America, using modular and green design.

IBM Canada Leadership Data Centre unveiled in Barrie, Ontario

BARRIE, ONT.

The newly constructed IBM Canada Leadership Data Centre which uses advanced modular and green design for maximum efficiency was recently unveiled in Barrie, Ont.

“Canadian organizations are seeking more strategic ways to increase operational efficiencies and position themselves for sustainable growth,” said IBM Canada president John Lutz in a press release.

“We continue to invest in smarter infrastructure within Canada because businesses can’t afford downtime with today’s economic pressures. This new facility provides a flexible foundation ingrained in best-practices so we can deliver essential services to help organizations and partners better manage data, reduce operating costs, improve productivity and gain competitive advantage.”

The state-of-the-art data centre represents a $90 million investment from IBM and will establish 20 skilled jobs in Barrie, as a portion of the $175 million IBM invested and 145 jobs created through the April 2012 launch of the IBM Canada Research and Development Centre network. In time, the new data centre is expected to provide key infrastructure and personnel to help underpin ongoing research and development initiatives tied to this network. The IBM funding is supported through the Ontario government’s previous $15 million investment towards these initiatives.

The highly efficient, modular centre is uniquely designed to a set of global best-practice metrics that best demonstrate productivity and effectiveness in space, energy and data management. These attributes will help organizations adapt existing processes and infrastructure or cost-effectively invest to more efficiently support business growth and mitigate the risk of costly system outages.

“This project will help to improve how we deal with challenges in health care, infrastructure and cities, energy, and water conservation,” said Brad Duguid, Ontario minister of economic development and innovation.

The new facility will provide 25,000 square feet of initial capacity with the ability to grow to 100,000 square feet. IBM has designed and delivered more than 1,000 similar modular data centres for customers worldwide. Modular data centre design uses small increments of standardized components to match business requirements with IT requirements and only add data centre capacity when needed. Modular centres can be expanded in half the time of a traditional data centre to easily accommodate growing demand. They help clients save up to 30 percent per year in energy costs compared to traditional centres.

This newest addition to IBM’s existing network of 17 data centres within Canada bolsters the company’s $75 million investment in Markham, Ont. and Montreal-based data centres during 2011.

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